Karmic Retribution
by T. M. Winston
Summary: Papyrus loves his brother. He really does, despite Sans' laziness and terrible puns. He doesn't know much about Sans anymore, but he knows that Sans is his brother and that Sans loves him too. That's always been enough for Papyrus. When the shadows descend upon the Underground however, he will learn more about his brother and his role in their world than he ever imagined.
**So I've got a question for you. If human souls cannot absorb monster souls like monster can absorb human souls, why does Chara/Frisk/The Player/whatever you people come up with for why the genocide route happens (despite it being the innate curiosity of a child that is seemingly free of consequence?) get stronger with each death of a monster? It's easy to explain Flowey; Despite the lack of a soul, Flowey is still at his core a monster. His cellular structure is monster. DNA is monster. Thus it makes sense that he absorbs monsters souls upon their death rather than the soul simply being lost which is what is SUPPOSED to happen. So here's my theory: Perhaps instead of the ability to absorb souls, human souls instead absorb the raw essence of a monster upon his or her or its death.**

 **In my eyes, that dust left behind by dead monsters isn't just the law of matter not being able to be completely destroyed or created or whatever coming into play here. The dust acts... rather unnatural doesn't it? It clings to the player, almost lingering upon her (To me the little child is feminine, I can't for the life of me see her being male, nor can I portray Frisk as non-gendered. To me personally, it simply does not make sense. Controversial maybe, but opinions on gender is not the purpose of this, so moving on) like a ghost clinging to the mortal realm in the old lore and such. Strange ain't it? In reality, to me at least, it makes perfect sense.**

 **Let's take a step back to the human soul absorbing the raw essence of a monster. Essence is a fancy word for describing stuff, in this case being used to describe what makes you... you. A fancy word for "soul" as it were. I believe there's more to it however. The raw essence, or culmination, of a monster is magic. Magic itself is a manifestation of natural energies that monster can draw upon and project in a specific manner. So in a sense, magic is just essentially energy. Raw energy. Monsters are like... Living, breathing, odd and humorous batteries, except that instead of battery acid and whatever else makes a battery tick, it's magic. That's not everything however, otherwise the CORE would be classified as a living monster as well. There's more to the formula, something that makes that raw energy sentient. That, is where the soul comes into play. The soul is the catalyst that causes a reaction within the energy making up a monster, creating sentience, and thus intelligent life. It doesn't explain absolutely everything that Undertale has within its lore, but it explains a fair bit.**

 **It explains just how powerful DETERMINATION is in that it can replicate a human soul well enough to trick magic into believing it is sentient. The catch, as seen in Flowey, is that DETERMINATION is just that, determination. It isn't a soul. It has no feeling, no want, no dreams. It's just there to be determined, hence Flowey remembering everything from Asriel's life (the two are strange in that it's more than just a split personality, but that's something to get into for another day hopefully) but not being able to feel the happiness that comes with it. As for how he feels fear within the genocide route...**

 **I don't know. That's the fun part however. The part that keeps drawing me in.**

 **This is getting long, so I'll wrap it up for now. Essentially, humans absorb the magic of monsters and yet, they cannot perform magic themselves. So... that's it? Human absorbs magic and somehow get stronger? Yes, to put it simply, but it's more like this: Raw energy, or magic, cannot be created nor destroyed. It can run low or high due to it converting to other sources, but never lost, due to just that: conversion. It's a little more strange though in that magic can become physical (which is what a monster is), but the law still applies. Hence the dust, hence the "sound" of monsters turning to dust. Hence the raising of LOVE. It's all conversion, natures way of making sure it's resources are never truly spent. So there, LOVE rises because the human soul absorbs the magic of monsters, (not their soul sadly, so no chance of resurrection) and coverts the magic into other kinds of energy that the soul uses to strengthen it's physical host. Whew, that was long. Almost done now, here's my last point.**

 **Remember how I said that the magic requires a soul to be stimulated into sentience, and even a physical form? Well I'll put it this way: there is a physical form (the dust) present upon the player. There is also magic (present in the form of STATS). There is also a physical host already present. So three pieces of a formula, where's the soul? Remember, a human soul is nearly as powerful as the soul of every monster in the Underground combined. Yet we know that DETERMINATION can fool magic into believing it's already sentient, and if Chara is just stats at this point... Where's Frisk's soul?**

 **Providing the stimuli to every victim of the Underground that has been absorbed into Chara.**

 **As for just what that entails... that's the purpose of the story.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Karmic Retribution**

 **A Story by:** **T.M. Winston**

His skull hurt. A lot.

Well, it was more like his upper body hurt quite a bit. Particularly his neck. Perhaps he slept on it wrong. No matter, he was the Great Papyrus! No amount of neck pain would stop him! Papyrus stretched out upon the ground, breathing deeply as he woke from his nap.

Wait, nap? He never took naps. And why was he on the ground and not his super cool race car bed?

Papyrus' eye sockets shot open. This... this wasn't Snowdin anymore, he knew that for certain. For one, it was completely black. In every single direction. Nothingness spreading out as far as Papyrus could see.

"HELLO?... S-SANS? WHERE ARE YOU?" He called out, uncomfortable. This was surely much different than what he was used too, but it wouldn't be the first time Sans managed to prank him across time and space. As for how that lazybones managed it... Papyrus had no clue.

"SANS! IF THIS IS ONE OF YOUR PRANKS, IT ISN'T AMUSING. REVEAL YOURSELF NOW BROTHER!" He called out more sternly this time, sure that it would cause his boondoggling brother to cease his activities.

But nobody came.

"S-SANS?! W-WHERE ARE YOU!? I SAID THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" He called out once more, now a little frightened by the blackness.

"W-WHERE... WHERE IS EVERYONE? WHERE AM I?"

He stiffened then as a red glow seemed to be coming from behind him. A red glow that seemed awfully... familiar. The memories began to flood back...

* * *

 _"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME SANS, I'M SURE IT'S A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING. THE HUMAN JUST NEEDS GUIDANCE."_

 _"... if you're sure paps, then i guess i can't stop you. just... just stay safe alright?"_

" _OF COURSE DEAR BROTHER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS PRACTICES SAFETY."_

 _"right. you're the coolest bro..."_

* * *

 _"STILL... I BELIEVE IN YOU!"_

* * *

He could still feel the cold steel severing his head from his spinal chord.

Wasn't he supposed to be... dead... then? He felt his head slip from his body, felt his body turn to dust (boy was that _weird)_ and then the human had... had stepped upon his face and then nothing. Nothing but black. So where was he then, if he wasn't dead? The red glow behind him grew stronger, but Papyrus paid it no mind. He had died, and left Sans behind. Who would make sure Sans was okay? Made sure he ate? Showed up to his job? Made sure he didn't laze about all day? Who would make sure his puzzles were re-calibrated, or would pass on his expert recipes? Who would make sure Sans...

Who would be _there_ for Sans?

"S-sanss..." Papyrus began to cry, regretting his decision to meet the human.

He knew the human could be a better person, he just knew it! He wasn't sure how (dreams after all, are just dreams... despite him remembering somehow that the human's name should be 'Frisk'), but he just knew the human could be better! So why... why had she done this? How could she...

"P-papyrus?" A small, timid, feminine voice called out from behind him. It was familiar. A small, child-like hand touched his shoulder, and Papyrus leaned into it a little bit, his skull in his hands as he cried. Eventually, the small hand turned into two small arms as they encircled the crying skeleton, comforting him as he lamented his decision. Eventually however, the tears ran out, and Papyrus was left with hiccups and sniffles. Eventually, he had to to look up. A child's face stared back at him, the face that had been there when his head was separated from his body. With a cry of shock, Papyrus flew from the human's arms and covered his neck, as though to protect himself from the human.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Pap-papyrus please! I'm n-not going to hurt you! I p-pr... I... I..." The little girl's eyes (eyes that twinkled as they curb-stomped his skull) began to well up with tears. Papyrus almost moved forward to comfort the little girl, but stopped himself just barely, one hand still covering his neck. The girl sank to her knees, now crying herself.

"I'm s-s-s-so s-s-s-s-sorry! I'm so sorry! Sorry, so sorry..." she kept crying out desperately, not even meeting his eyes as she cried as well.

Now he knew that this little girl had killed him, and all logic pointed to him running for his somehow returned life and putting as much distance between him and the human as possible, but... Papyrus wasn't that kind of monster.

Popular. Prestigious. Kind. That's Papyrus.

"IT... IT'S ALRIGHT HUMAN. FRISK..." He said as softly as he could manage, snaking his (trembling) arms around her. Frisk looked up, startled.

"You... you remember me?" She said hesitantly, and Papyrus nodded.

"OF COURSE! YOU'RE MY... WELL, NOT FRIEND I SUPPOSE. BUT I FEEL LIKE I KNOW YOU!" This had the opposite affect that Papyrus hoped for on Frisk as the girl flinched and lowered her gaze from his face. Papyrus was confused, his chest felt heavy as his held the girl in his arms and he didn't know why. Well, he knew he was afraid. Terrified even, but it wasn't just that. He felt... he felt... Something. Something that stirred up old memories. Dreams of memories long past. A red car, some weird bright ball, and a blue ceiling. It came back slowly, and Papyrus stiffened, then slackened around the now trembling girl. He could feel it, the touch and smell of grass, the crisp clean air smelled and tasted fresh. So fresh compared to the Underground. The mountains stretched on forever into the blue blue sky. The sounds of birds, the smell of baked goods, the people, the cities... The surface. And most importantly of all, Papyrus remembered the giggles and smiles he had brought to Frisk's face as the wind whistled through his bones. He remembered the movies nights and the slumber parties, anime night with Dr. Alphys and Undyne. The pride he had felt as King Asgore immortalized his face within wall-like grass for all the tiny humans to see and admire. All the human friends he had made (only Frisk). Studying with Asgore's clone alongside Frisk, and the famous spaghetti nights as he shared his culinary masterpiece with those he loved. Most of all, he remembered the awe of the thousands of stars, and the warm happiness and contentment he had felt in his soul as he sat beneath the majestic sky next to his dear older brother, Sans.

"YOU... You were my friend..." Papyrus whispered out, shocked by what he remembered. Frisk began to sob heavily now, and collapsed into him stuttering out apology after apology through her tears. These weren't the actions of the human that had murdered him... Papyrus felt familiar resolve flood back into his bones.

"You... YOU ARE MY FRIEND." He said with resolve, shocking the sobbing girl.

"B-but... but I..."

"NO BUTS, AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE ONE!" Papyrus said cheerfully, causing the sobbing girl to stare reproachfully at him.

He simply stared back, smiling innocently like he always did. Slowly, Frisk began to smile. Then she giggled. Then she chuckled. Then Papyrus giggled. Then he chuckled. The two broke down into hysterics over a bad joke (god, is this was Sans feels like?) and laughed and cried together for what felt like hours. Eventually the two found themselves lying upon the blackness, stitches in their rib cages as they caught their breath. Then silence as the two stared into the infinite void above. Papyrus happy that he had been right, had been right to believe in the goodness within the human. But...

"FRISK... WHY DID YOU K-K-... WHY DID YOU DO WHAT YOU DID TO ME? TO EVERYONE?" Papyrus asked almost shyly, and Frisk's breathing hitched. Nothing was said for a bit after that, but eventually...

"That... Please believe me, but that wasn't me! I swear, I would never hurt you on purpose! You're my friend Pappy, you gotta believe me!" Frisk burst out, her words sticking together as she sat up and rambled on. Papyrus sat up as well, not surprised in the least by the nickname.

"RELAX FRISK, PLEASE. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU." He uttered in a calm tone of voice, remembering Toriel's trick in using a calm voice in response to Frisk's distress to calm the child working, and tired his hand at it for the first time. It worked.

Frisk took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "That wasn't me who hurt you Pappy..." She nearly whispered. Not that it mattered. Words seemed to carry in this weird place.

Papyrus was, understandably, confused. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT WASN'T YOU?" He inquired, curious.

Frisk clammed up, looking down. Finally, she said softly "'s Chara."

"WHAT?"

"Her name... Her name is Chara." She said again, somehow even quieter.

"WHO IS..." Wait a minute. Chara sounded like a familiar name. Papyrus squinted his eye-sockets, attempting to recall that elusive information that would solve this disastrous puzzle. It came to him, and he felt his breath leave in suddenly.

"YOU... IT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE..."

Frisk looked up, confused now. "What?"

"IS... IS THIS CHARA YOU SPEAK OF... COULD IT BE THE CHARA? PRINCESS CHARA? DAUGHTER OF KING ASGORE AND QUEEN TORIEL?" He asked, in disbelief even as he made the connection.

Frisk looked confused for a moment, then suddenly her face went blank, like she wasn't all there. Papyrus grew concerned.

"FRISK?"

Frisk shook her head, then looked at Papyrus. She studied him for a bit, and his bones rattled a bit beneath her gaze. Then she nodded resolutely as though she were making a decision. She reached her little hand out to Papyrus.

"Trust me Pappy?"

"OF COURSE!"

He grasped her hand, then wobbled a little as the world turned around him. He gasped, and nearly fell over only to land against a firm yet fluffy surface. Fluffy?

"Hello Papyrus." Came a warm, motherly voice from above him. Papyrus gasped happily.

"TORIEL!" Papyrus shouted in joy, turning quickly and wrapping his long lithe arms around the queen. She wrapped her arms around him in turn, chuckling lowly in his ear.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOUR MAJESTY?" He inquired, backing out of the queens motherly embrace.

Toriel didn't look like she had aged a day since he had last seen her on the surface, but there was a difference in her appearance: a long, thin slash was could be seen in her robes along her left side. Papyrus let out a little cry of shock when he saw it.

"YOUR MAJESTY, YOU'RE INJURED!" He cried out in distress.

"FRISK, WHERE IS THE FIRST AID KIT?! THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST ADMINISTER TREATMENT IMMEDIATELY! THEN... ER, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT." Papyrus admitted sheepishly, causing Toriel to laugh aloud.

"Oh dear Papyrus, you haven't changed a bit!"She giggled out, Frisk giggling along with her. Papyrus stood there, bemused and a little frustrated.

"THIS IS NO LAUGHING MANNER, YOU ARE INJURED TORIEL!" He said earnestly, scanning the room for any sign of a first aid kit. There! Conveniently placed just behind the queen. "AH HA, THERE!"

He raced over to the little white box, grabbing his prize and turning back to the now serious and somber looking queen. Papyrus took no heed of her face, instead moving over to her injured side and opening the box.

"THERE MUST BE A BANDAGE HERE SOMEWHERE... AH, HERE WE ARE!" He placed the bandage on her gash, nodding happily. "THERE! ANOTHER SUCCESS FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! YOUR THANKS IS UNNECESSARY, BUT APPRECIATED!" He declared proudly, hand on his hip and on his chest in a clearly cool and heroic pose.

Popular. Prestigious. Kind. Heroic. That's Papyrus.

He expected thanks, perhaps even applause. What he got was much less... impressive.

"Papyrus dear... why don't you sit down? There are some things I feel as though I should explain." Toriel said quietly, but Papyrus heard the regal habit of an order given under her kind but quiet suggestion, causing Papyrus to be even more confused.

"WHAT? WHY? WHAT IS GOING ON, YOUR MAJESTY?"

"Please Papyrus, just... do as I ask, please?" She begged, and so the tall skeleton sat upon the convenient comfortable sofa. Toriel nodded, and moved towards her chair ('Chariel' as Frisk had dubbed it with many giggles) with Frisk following in toe. She sat down gracefully, Frisk clambering into her lap and burying her face in Toriel's chest. Toriel regarded the skeleton with a sad and hesitant look, as though she knew not what to say bot knowing only that it would be sad. Finally, after many nervously shifting and creaking bones, Toriel sighed.

"Papyrus... Do you know what happened to you?" Toriel asked seriously, wrapping her arms gently around Frisk. Papyrus nodded hesitantly.

"YES. I... I..." Papyrus struggled to continue.

"You died." Toriel said for him as flat as she could, wavering a little at the end. Frisk whimpered and burrowed further into Toriel.

Papyrus swallowed (somehow), and nodded. "YES. THAT HAPPENED."

Toriel nodded as well, the only hint of her discomfort with the situation being in her soft and saddened eyes. She opened her mouth, only to close it again. Finally, she croaked out:

"I am dead as well."

Papyrus was shocked, floored. He leaned back against the back of the comfortable sofa, feeling much less comfortable. "WHAT? THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS! YOU'RE THE QUEEN! NO ONE CAN HARM YOU!"

Toriel sighed and looked away, tightening her embrace around the now trembling Frisk. "And you are the Great Papyrus yes? You could never die... but here you are."

The two fell into silence, the only sound in the room being Frisk whimpers as she was cradled against Toriel. Finally, Papyrus could handle it no longer.

"YOUR MAJESTY, IF WE ARE DEAD... THEN WHERE IS 'HERE'?" He wondered, desperate for answers. Toriel only looked back at him with sad eyes.

"I'm afraid I do not know exactly where 'here' is Papyrus... but I can guess." She returned.

"THEN WHAT DO YOU GUESS?"

"I believe... I believe that because we were... ended... by the thing holding my child's body hostage, we are in Frisk's body. In, or at least near, her soul." Toriel said hesitantly, unsure of herself.

Papyrus could accept that answer, after all he knew no better himself. She knew however, the it wasn't Frisk that killed her. Frisk had said something similar. Chara...

"YOUR MAJESTY... IS... DID YOU KNOW ABOUT-"

"Chara? Oh yes, Frisk has explained it to me." Toriel said cooly. Frisk's whimpers became louder.

"My fault. All my fault. A-All m-my f-f-fault." Frisk sobbed out, causing Toriel to hold her tighter and whisper in her ear.

"I've already forgiven you my child, it wasn't your fault. It will never be your fault." Toriel said kindly, pushing Frisk back and wiping her eyes. Frisk continued to cry even as Toriel kissed her forehead and pulled her back into her embrace.

The room descended into silence as Papyrus contemplated what he knew. Toriel knew of Chara, and from what he remembered Chara had been her daughter. He hadn't even been a baby-bones at the time, but he knew that Chara had been important once. He also knew that Chara, along with Prince Asriel Dreemur, had passed away a long long time ago. The question was now, how was Chara alive. Why was she here? And why did she kill Toriel, him, countless others? How had she taken Frisk's body? Okay, so there was more than one question. And no answers. It seemed as though no one knew what to do right now, and Frisk wasn't talking more about what she obviously knew. She was too distraught to fill in Papyrus, and it seemed Toriel was only a little better. Sans would have known what to do right now. His lazy brother always seemed to have a solution. Always seemed to know just what to do. So Papyrus would do the same. He would get to the bottom of this, just like Sans would do, and he would help them get out of this messy situation.

Popular. Prestigious. Kind. Heroic. Determined.

That's Papyrus.

* * *

 **More to come, don't you worry. I also promise to not write a full theory at the beginning of the chapter next time. I know I prefer authors to jump right in, then explain. But I felt that theory was important for establishing context, as well as opening up... shall we say possibilities for you guys. Connections of your own to make. That's always the best part, no? Anyways, see yah next time.**

 **With Undying love,**

 **T.M. Winston**


End file.
